Workplace Counselling : Organisational Interventions

1. Workplace Counselling : Organisational Interventions

2. Overview • The concept of ‘employee assistance’ • Stressors in the Workplace • Stress-related absence • Organisational responsibility for stress management • Creating a healthy workplace

3. The Concept of ‘Employee Assistance’ • early 1900’s : ‘welfare provision’ • 1920’s : ‘industrial psychiatry’ • Mayo (1936) ‘a happy worker is a productive worker’ • 1940’s : ‘Employee Assistance’ : • Characteristics of early Employee Assistance • aim : employee regulation • welfare team : psychiatrists, social workers, occupational psychologists and personnel officers • peripheral • ‘curative’ medical model

4. Characteristics of Contemporary Approaches to Employee Assistance Political pressure + legislation (Health & Safety Executive, 1995) + ‘happy = productive’ has led to .... • Employee Assistance as a philosophy (Carroll, 1994) • Mental Health Counselling ~ ‘EAP’s’ • US : litigation for cases of ‘emotional damage’, stress-related illness (Carroll, 1996) • ‘prevention better than cure’

5. Stress in the WorkplaceHow bad is it ?... • Economic ‘health’ ~ employee ‘ill-health’ (-ve correlation) • Dutch Bureau for Social Statistics (SCP), 2000 : 5-15% pop. of Western European countries receive social security benefits (UK : approx. 10%) • 1 in 3 unable to work due to ‘mental grounds’ (90% suffering ‘exogenous reaction’) • 30-60% of all sickness from work in UK due to some form of mental/emotional disturbance (Health & Safety Executive,1998); 40 million working days per year. • Mental Health Foundation (2000) • £4 billion pounds lost annually • line mgrs : 75% felt anyone could suffer from stress at some time • Most common = musculoskeletal disorders (back-problems) then work-related stress

6. What is Stress ? • stress as an outside stimulus (traditional/early view) • stress as an internal response Cannon (1930’s) : first to link stress to disease/physiological responses (animal, human lab studies) Selyle (1946) first to look at the process of development of illness through stress : 3 stages :- alarm reaction(lowered resistance & counter-shock => defense mechanisms) ... resistance (coping strategies) ... exhaustion (adaptive mechanisms collapse)

7. Causes of Stress : Theory • Cumming & Cooper (1979) : type of ‘P x E’ model : • individuals try to keep their world ‘steady’ • each factor of a person’s emotional and physical ‘world’ has a range in which that person feels comfortable • the individual’s behaviour which is aimed at maintaining this state = ‘coping strategies’ • Smith et al (1978) : stress occurs in all occupations • NB. occupational differences (caring professions, medics, PSYCHIATRISTS!!); gender differences (men affected 2x women, although women increasing)

8. ‘Burnout’ Adams (1963) ‘Equity Theory’ • High/systemic imbalance between employee ‘investments’ (time + effort) ~ employee ‘rewards’ • External vs Internal Investments • External vs Internal Rewards • Burnout <<< high external effort + low internal reward (Bosma et al, 1998; Evans & Fisher,1993; Siegrist, 1996) Roe & Zijlstra (2000) • increasing intensification of the working day • work demands + life demands • N.B. Individual differences in peoples’ interpretations of events ‘hardy personality’

9. Causes of Stress : Research Cooper et al (1988) : 5 categories of work stress : 1. Factors Intrinsic to Job : hours of work (long hours, shift work); working conditions (heat, light, noise); risk and danger; new technology; work overload & work underload 2. Role in the Organisation: role ambiguity (more stress when high ambiguity), role conflict (job role ~ job role, job role ~ other), level of responsibility (for people or things : Wardwell (64) for people is more stressful than for things) 3. Relationships at Work the importance of social support (Lazarus, ‘66; Cartwright & Cooper, ‘97)

10. Cooper et al (1988), continued... 4. Career Development : - job security & development (high nAch) - retirement (role transition i.e. ‘roleless role’) - job performance and appraisal - unemployment (e.g. Fryer & Payne, 86 : low happiness, low self esteem and poor psychological well-being; Eisenberg ‘38 : Model of reaction to unemployment : stage one = shock, stage two = optimism, stage three = pessimism) 5. Organisational Structure & Climate : Lack of autonomy and freedom (‘Career Anchors’)

11. Consequences of Stress Individual • physical : coronary heart disease, backache, migraine, skin complaints, respiratory disorders, stomach ulcers etc.etc.! • psychological : decrease in job performance (Yerkes-Dodson Law); depression; panic attacks; etc etc. Organisational • Quick & Quick (1984) : absenteeism and turnover : $ loss to organisations = almost half of ‘lost’ employees salary By 1970’s absenteeism cost more to industry than strikes and work stoppages • Litigation and Health Care Costs Societal : economic and social consequences

12. Indicators of Individual Stress • Increase in unexplained absences or sick leave • Poor performance • Poor timekeeping • Increased consumption of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine (drug taking) • Headaches/Backaches • Withdrawal from social contact • Poor judgement/indecisiveness • Constant fatigue • Unusual displays of emotion Indicators of Group Stress : increased bickering, high staff turnover, increased grievances and complaints

13. N.B. The Criterion Problem : Diagnosing stress-related illness • Relevant information is not registered • Differences in procedures/legislation • Unclear diagnostic criteria (International Classification of Impairments, Diseases and Handicaps - no international definition of ‘stress’ as a medical condition)

14. Stress-Related Absence • Absence figures : absence due to - own illness, injury, medical problems, childcare problems, family/personal obligations, civil/military duty, maternity/paternity leave. • Not included : vacation, personal development days, industrial action - and anything else not given above. • N.B. Multiple job-holders • Absence Rate = No. workers with absences : No. workers in full-time employment (e.g. 25 : 100 = 1 in 4) • Absenteeism Rate = Total no. lost working days / no. workers in workforce x no. working days)] x 100 • CBI survey : 1996 - 187 million lost days (£12bn) • static among manual staff, increased by 2 days (on average) in non-manual workers (N.B. manual staff more) • public sector vs private sector (although gap narrowing)

15. How organisations perceive stress-related absence • 98% said sickness absence genuine • 20% increase in org’s using sickness record as a selection criteria for redundancy • Traditionally, org’s responded to prolonged absence by disciplinary process/termination. Now - employee legislation prevents termination. • Organisations as Ostriches! • Organisational costs of stress-related absences  overtime payments, training efforts, insurance premiums, admin. responsibilities, salary paid for no work performance, disruption in normal workflow  morale, safety risks, productivity, quality of service

16. Organisational & Economic correlates of employee absenteeism • low unemployment • growing organisation • high employee turnover • unionized organisation • overtime pay available • low wages • employees have short tenure

17. Creating a Healthy Workplace The individual and the organisation need to: • be aware and accept a problem exists (individual is not incompetent, org. must monitor sick/turnover rates) • identify and isolate the problem (stress diaries, stress audits - ‘employee satisfaction surveys’) • attempt to change the problem in a way that is mutually beneficial - or find appropriate coping strategy • monitor and review the outcome of the strategy adopted

18. ‘Cures’ for Stress Employee Assistance Programmes : • Are ‘employee’ rather than org. directed - focus on changing individual’s behaviour (not stressors in the work environment) • Feldman (1991) : 75% of Fortune 5000 organisations use EAP’s • Content of EAP’s : on-site fitness facilities, relaxation classes, counselling.... • Evaluation of EAP’s : Organisations like them as : lead to significant financial benefits (due to decreased absenteeism); do not disrupt ‘business’; present a high profile means whereby org. is seen to be doing something about stress

19. Stress Management Training : Content • Behaviour Modification techniques • Health promotion (e.g. gym membership) • Counselling • Cognitive Approach : ‘maladaptive thinking’ e.g. Rational Emotive Therapy - challenge irrational thoughts • Humanistic-Phenomenological Approach : e.g. Q-Sort : piles describing ‘ideal’ vs ‘current’ self. • ‘Encounter Groups’ : ‘‘hug me, man’’ • Erhard Seminars training : 250 people in a field shouting at each other

20. Evaluation of Employee Assistance • Reynolds et al (1993) : SMT => decreased self-report of stress, and psychological indices of strain - no improvement in job satisfaction, work stress, blood pressure • Allison et al (1988) : Counselling = > improved mental health - no improvement in job satisfaction or organisational commitment • Ivancevitch et al (1988) : Fitness Programmes => 70% failed to maintain the programme after initiation

21. Changing the sources of workplace stress : prevention rather than cure • Elkin & Rosch (1990) : 10 strategies : include.... Redesign -task, -work environment; establish flexible working; encourage participative management and employee development; provide social support and feedback; share rewards; have fair employment policies Evidence • Guzzo et al (1985) : increased ‘empowerment’ => increased productivity • Dale et al (1998) :’Quality Circle Programmes’ self-monitoring, autonomous work units - have significant positive impact on productivity and employee attitudes.

22. Characteristics of the Healthy Organisation Cartwright & Cooper (1994) • Levels of stress are low • org. commitment and job satisfaction are high • sickness, absenteeism and turnover are below the national average • industrial relations are good - strikes are infrequent • safety and accident records are good • fear of litigation is absent